Tampa Bay History Volume 9 Issue 1 Article 5 6-1-1987 Fort Myers: From Rafts to Bridges in Forty Year Nell Colcord Weidenbach Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/tampabayhistory Recommended Citation Weidenbach, Nell Colcord (1987) "Fort Myers: From Rafts to Bridges in Forty Year," Tampa Bay History: Vol. 9 : Iss. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/tampabayhistory/vol9/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Open Access Journals at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Tampa Bay History by an authorized editor of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Weidenbach: Fort Myers: From Rafts to Bridges in Forty Year This raft was used to ferry passengers at Ft. Thompson or Ft. Denaud. Photograph courtesy of the Fort Myers Historical Museum. FORT MYERS: FROM RAFTS TO BRIDGES IN FORTY YEARS by Nell Colcord Weidenbach The Caloosahatchee, a gem among rivers, is a familiar sight to motorists approaching South Florida via the Gulf coast. Since Florida was first burped up from the briny deep in some vague prehistoric era, the wide blue waters of the “River Beautiful” have been drifted upon, poled across, swum in, fought for, used and misused. The pirate “Black Caesar” knew the river well. Ponce de Leon explored it greedily. Seminoles and soldiers played cat and mouse in its coves for many years. For centuries, anybody who wanted to cross the river in the vicinity of today’s Fort Myers was forced to swim or float, like the ’gators and the manatees, in its shallow waters.